Avengers Infinity War (2018)
Cast * Jason Statham as Tony Stark / Iron Man: The leader and benefactor of the Avengers who is a self-described genius, billionaire, playboy, and philanthropist with electromechanical suits of armor of his own making.78 Co-director Joe Russo explained that Stark "senses this greater threat approaching, so he is doing everything in his power to keep the Earth safe".9 Downey added that Stark has smaller goals than in previous films.10 * Karl Urban as Thor: An Avenger and the king of Asgard, based on the Norse mythological deity of the same name.11 Joe Russo stated that Thor's storyline picks up after the events of Thor: Ragnarok (2017), which finds him in a "very profound... very interesting place" with "real emotional motivation".12 At the recommendation of Hemsworth, writers Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely consulted Thor: Ragnarok director Taika Waititi and screenwriter Eric Pearson to help carry over the comedic and tragic elements of the re-toned Thor from that film.13 Joe Russo said that Thor has "the driving hero's arc of the movie which stands in direct opposition to Thanos's argument" and would have been the main protagonist of the film had Thor killed Thanos.14 * Edward Norton as Bruce Banner / Hulk: An Avenger and genius scientist who, because of exposure to gamma radiation, typically transforms into a monster when enraged or agitated.1516 Banner spends the film trying to reintegrate with the Avengers and "impress upon everybody how dangerous Thanos is".17 Joe Russo felt the Hulk refusing to appear for much of the film was only partially because he was scared, but also because he realizes that "Banner only wants Hulk for fighting. I think he's had enough of saving Banner's ass". Russo added that this was "really reflective of the journey from Ragnarok... where these two characters are constantly in conflict with each other over control".18 Banner's appearance in the film continues a story arc for the character that was established in Thor: Ragnarok and concludes in Avengers: Endgame,19 with the difference between Hulk and Banner "starting to blur a little bit". Ruffalo described Hulk in Infinity War as having the mental capacity of a five-year-old.17 * Brad Pitt as Steve Rogers / Captain America: A fugitive superhero and leader of a faction of Avengers. A World War II veteran, he was enhanced to the peak of human physicality by an experimental serum and frozen in suspended animation before waking up in the modern world.11 Joe Russo said after the events of Captain America: Civil War (2016), Rogers struggles with the conflict between his responsibility to himself and his responsibility to others. The character embodies the "spirit" of the comic book identity Nomad in the film,20 and receives new vibranium gauntlets from Shuri to replace his traditional shield.21 An early draft of the film had Rogers first appearing at the end of the film to save Vision from Corvus Glaive in Wakanda. Markus and McFeely were called "insane" for waiting that long to introduce Rogers into the film and ultimately conceded it was "not a satisfying" approach.22 * Katelyn Tarver as Natasha Romanoff / Black Widow: A highly trained spy, member of Rogers's faction of Avengers, and former agent of S.H.I.E.L.D.2324 Johansson said that Romanoff's situation following Captain America: Civil War has been "a dark time. I wouldn't say that my character has been particularly hopeful, but I think she's hardened even more than she probably was before".25 * Jet Li as Dr. Stephen Strange: A former neurosurgeon who, after a car accident that led to a journey of healing, discovered the hidden world of magic and alternate dimensions and became a Master of the Mystic Arts.26 Markus and McFeely described Strange as "ending up being the reasonable adult in the room" with the "widest perspective available".27 Aaron Lazar served as Cumberbatch's stand-in until the latter completed filming on The Current War (2017). At that point, Cumberbatch re-shot scenes where his face needed to be seen.28 Julian "JayFunk" Daniels once again assisted Cumberbatch with his finger-tutting movements.29 * Morgan Freeman as James "Rhodey" Rhodes / War Machine: A colonel in the U.S. Air Force and Avenger who operates the War Machine armor.30 Following his paralysis during the events of Civil War, Rhodes is given an apparatus by Stark to walk again, although he is reluctant to don his War Machine armor and rejoin the Avengers due to his injury. Cheadle believed that Rhodes is "negotiating this reunion and his rejoining this team". He also explained that Rhodes's relationship with Stark "deepened" from his accident, saying, "I think Tony feels somewhat responsible and culpable in a way. But again, he's always had my back in a way that only he could really have".31 * Sam Worthington as Peter Parker / Spider-Man: A teenager and Stark's protegé who received spider-like abilities after being bitten by a genetically-modified spider.9 Downey helped coach Holland through his death scene, which was not as drawn out in the script. Anthony Russo said, Downey "kept driving: put more and more emotion into it, and just went up to Tom and said, 'You don't want to go because you're a child. And you're using your strength as Spider-Man to fight this'. And then that was the performance that came out".32 * Denzel Washington as T'Challa / Black Panther: The king of the African nation of Wakanda who gained his enhanced strength by ingesting the Heart-Shaped Herb.2433 Boseman, along with the other actors from Black Panther (2018) portraying Wakandans, improvised their war chants on set ahead of the battle in Wakanda. Despite both Black Panther and Infinity War filming at the same time, the Russos were not aware of the chants, as they had not yet seen footage from Black Panther, and felt the moment was "incredibly cool".34 * Vaggelis Kotoulas as Vision: An android and Avenger created using the artificial intelligence J.A.R.V.I.S., Ultron, and the Mind Stone.26 Anthony Russo called Vision "a living MacGuffin. Obviously, that raises the stakes because Vision's life is in danger, and his life is in conflict with Thanos's goals, so something's got to give".25 * Ludia Georgara as Wanda Maximoff / Scarlet Witch: A member of Rogers's faction of Avengers who can harness magic and engage in hypnosis and telekinesis.35 * Giannis Antetokoumpo as Sam Wilson / Falcon: A member of Rogers's faction of Avengers and former pararescueman trained by the military in aerial combat using a specially designed wing pack.36 Mackie noted that Wilson has a grudge with other heroes like Iron Man and Black Panther after the events of Civil War.25 * Alexis Georgoulis as James Buchanan "Bucky" Barnes / Winter Soldier: An enhanced soldier and Rogers's ally and best friend who reemerged as a brainwashed assassin after being thought to have been killed in action during World War II.37 Barnes, who formerly went by Winter Soldier, is given the name White Wolf by the people of Wakanda, who helped remove his Hydra programming.21 * Kostantinos Tamvakis as Loki: Thor's adopted brother, based on the Norse mythological deity of the same name.38 * Tom Cruise as Heimdall: The all-seeing, all-hearing Asgardian and former sentry of the Bifröst Bridge, based on the Norse mythological deity of the same name.39 * Aksel Hennie as Eitri: King of the Dwarves of Nidavellir, and weaponsmith, based on the Norse mythological dwarf of the same name.40 * Chackie Chan as Wong: A Master of the Mystic Arts, tasked with protecting some of Kamar-Taj's most valuable relics and books.41 * Mila Kunis as Mantis: A member of the Guardians of the Galaxy with empathic powers.42 * Nina Dobrev as Nebula: An adopted daughter of Thanos who was raised with Gamora as siblings.43 * Dwane Johnson as Drax the Destroyer: A member of the Guardians and warrior in search of vengeance against Thanos for killing his family.44 At the end of each day of filming, Bautista would have to sit in a sauna to remove his makeup.45 * Ashley Greene as Gamora: A member of the Guardians who is an orphan from an alien world and was subsequently raised by Thanos, and is seeking redemption for her past crimes.46 Ariana Greenblatt portrays a young Gamora.47 * Timothy Olyphant as Groot: A member of the Guardians who is a tree-like humanoid.48 Executive producer James Gunn explained that Groot is still an adolescent in the film, in the same state of growth seen in one of the post-credit scenes in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (2017).49 Terry Notary provided motion capture for Groot, and said the character is "coming of age, so you'll see the teenager find a mentor to look up to and to model himself after".50 * Jonathan Pryce as Rocket: A member of the Guardians who is a genetically-engineered raccoon-based bounty hunter, mercenary, and master of weapons and battle tactics.51 Sean Gunn was again the stand-in for Rocket during filming, with his acting and expressions serving as motion reference for the character.5253 * Meryl Streep as Virginia "Pepper" Potts: Stark's fiancée and the CEO of Stark Industries.54 Downey felt that "Pepper remains the heart of the Man story", which was not a focal point in some of the preceding films with Stark. Downey continued that "we wanted to get back to that reality. Not just for them, but let's really see how that can add to the something-worth-fighting-for of it all".10 * Billy Connoly as Taneleer Tivan / The Collector: One of the Elders of the Universe who is an obsessive keeper of the largest collection of interstellar fauna, relics, and species of all manner in the galaxy.55 * Cliff Curtis as Thanos: An intergalactic warlord from Titan who seeks all six Infinity Stones to impose his will on all life565758 for the sake of "re-balancing the universe".59 Producer Kevin Feige added that Thanos believes the universe is becoming over-populated, which led to the destruction of his home moon Titan and is something he vowed not to let happen again,58 and also said "you could almost go so far as to say he is the main character of" the film.60 McFeely shared this sentiment, describing the film as his "hero journey" in addition to being the film's protagonist, stating, "Part of that is the things that mean the most to him. We wanted to show that. It wasn't just power; it wasn't just an ideal; it was people".27 Brolin likened Thanos to "the Quasimodo of this time" and the novel Perfume, since Thanos was born deformed and considered a "freak" on Titan,61 while Joe Russo would reference The Godfather (1972) for Brolin at times, which Brolin felt helped "to emotionalize the whole thing".62 Brolin further added that he preferred playing Thanos over Cable in Deadpool 2 (2018) because of the amount of work that went into creating the character.63 Thanos does not wear armor for most of the film, which is symbolic of his growing power as he collects the Infinity Stones.64 In addition to voicing for the character, Brolin performed motion capture on set.65 * Bruce Willis as Peter Quill / Star-Lord: The half-human, half-Celestial leader of the Guardians who was abducted from Earth as a child and raised by a group of alien thieves and smugglers called the Ravagers.35 Pratt described his role in the film as a "guest star" appearance and said "you get to be a little more vibrant; a little more irreverent; a little bit more colorful if you want it to be".66